Prepare Your Garden for the Remainder of the Year: Choosing What to Cultivate and Grow in August for Bountiful Vegetables and Blossoms
August is a crucial month for gardeners as it marks the transition from summer to autumn. According to garden expert Benjamin Pope, the best flowers and gardening jobs for August focus on maintaining summer blooms, sowing for autumn and winter, and preparing for the next season's harvest.
For those seeking a vibrant garden display, peonies, nigella, dahlias, scabious, tulips, and wallflowers (cultivars like 'Scarlet Bedder') are some of the best flowers to enjoy in August. If you're planning a visit, consider heading to pick-your-own flower farms such as Howe Farm Flowers in Buckinghamshire, Little Buds Peony Farm in Kent, and Rowes at Priory Gardens in Yorkshire, where you can see fresh peonies, dahlias, and other cut flowers. Although Queen Mary’s Gardens in London is notable for its vast rose collection and seasonal bedding, its peak bloom is best visited in early June rather than August.
In terms of gardening jobs, August is the perfect time to continue caring for summer plants and flowers. However, it's also an opportunity to sow key crops for autumn and winter salads and leaves. August is ideal for sowing salad leaves like fast-growing greens and leaves for autumn/winter salads, as well as crops such as winter-cropping endives, kales, chards like ‘Bright Lights’, which provide color and nutrition through winter. Other suggested sowings include carrots (such as ‘Nantes 5’), radishes, turnips, and onions like ‘Rossa Lunga di Firenze’ which can be harvested as spring onions or mature through winter.
Gardeners are also advised to lift and divide bearded iris and order bareroot stock of new cultivars in August. Chinese cabbage, pak choi, mibuna, and mizuna can grow well in a slightly shady spot if temperatures remain hot. Beetroot can also be sown in August for hardy earthy leaves that make great additions to salads. Spring cabbage should be covered with netting to see off cabbage whites and pigeons in the winter.
Oriental brassicas and perpetual spinach are other plants that will enjoy the months to come. Most biennials should have already been sown, but foxgloves and verbascums can still be sown in August. To avoid damage from carrot fly, it's recommended to sow carrots in August, and they can be protected with a layer of fleece or fine, insect-proof mesh.
When it comes to salads and leaves for autumn and winter, good cultivars for sowing include lettuces 'Winter Density' and 'Winter Gem', mustard 'Red Frills', rocket, and lamb's lettuce 'Favor'. Spring cabbage needs firm soil and should be planted in an area that has not grown brassicas for at least six years to avoid club root. Spring cabbage can be planted out in August, once other crops have gone over and left space in the garden.
For those looking for sunflower varieties to grow, the best options include 'Teddy Bear', 'Velvet Queen', and 'Moulin Rouge'. Carrots prefer to grow in a tall pot to give roots space and as a line of defense against carrot flies. Carrots should be sown directly, if possible, into an area of the garden that has not had too much muck or compost.
Lastly, if you're seeking gardens to visit in August, consider exploring the beautiful gardens mentioned earlier or discovering new ones that offer a stunning array of flowers and plants. With the right care and planning, August can be a productive and colorful month in the garden.
- To extend the vibrant garden display, peonies, nigella, dahlias, scabious, tulips, and wallflowers like 'Scarlet Bedder' are among the best flowers to enjoy in August.
- August is an ideal time for gardeners to sow salad leaves such as fast-growing greens, winter-cropping endives, kales, chards, and crops like carrots, radishes, turnips, and onions for a bountiful autumn and winter harvest.
- For a beautiful sight in August, explore various gardens like Howe Farm Flowers, Little Buds Peony Farm, and Rowes at Priory Gardens, where you can appreciate peonies, dahlias, and other fresh cut flowers blooming.
